Nominations for Wicomico Teacher Of The Year Accepted Until Jan. 29

Nominations for 2010-2011 Wicomico Teacher of the Year will be accepted until Jan. 29. Anyone in the community is invited to seek recognition for a current Wicomico teacher who has taught full-time for at least five years.

Nomination forms will be sent home with students. They are also available in schools, at the Board of Education Office, at the Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce, and on line at www.wcboe.org.

The Wicomico County Teacher of the Year Program annually solicits nominations from parents, students, the community and fellow educators to recognize Wicomico teachers with exceptional qualities and characteristics that make them shining examples of teaching in Wicomico County. Nominations come from many different people; a student who treasures a special teacher, a parent who sees the benefits of all that a teacher does, someone who recalls an outstanding experience in the classroom of a teacher who is still teaching, or a coworker who sees the value of a fellow teacher’s work every day.

“Teachers considered as nominees for recognition as Teacher of the Year should exemplify the traits associated with master teachers. They should be skillful and dedicated teachers who plan to continue their teaching careers," said Karen Leimann, coordinator of the Wicomico County Teacher of the Year Program.

Wicomico Teachers of the Year, including the current Teacher of the Year, Susan Cullen (Grade 3, Delmar Elementary), model teaching excellence. Wicomico has had a number of finalists for Maryland Teacher of the Year, and has two past Maryland Teachers of the Year on staff, Bonnie Walston, now the director of special education (1994), and Aaron Deal, a computer education teacher at Salisbury Middle School (2004).

Semifinalists for the Wicomico award will be interviewed by a blue ribbon panel of judges (March 4-5). On March 18, during the Teacher of the Year Banquet at Salisbury University’s Commons, the finalists at the primary, intermediate, middle and high school levels will be named, and the new Wicomico Teacher of the Year will be announced.

For more information, please call Karen Leimann at 410-677-4462 or e-mail her at kleimann@wcboe.org.